Estate Agents fees - is the withdrawal fee reasonable?

Czechcow

I put my house on the market in October 2007 at an agreed price with an estate agent. Not a lot appears to have happened since then, a few viewings, one offer £65,000 below the asking price of £340,000 which was refused, and I have reduced the price asking price once, although the agents have asked a few times to drop it more.

Now some three and a half years after the house was put up for sale, my personal circumstances have changed considerably; for example my husband who used to have to drive over an hour to work (assuming there were no traffic delays) has changed jobs and is much closer to home. Perhaps the main reason though is that our ages are now so close to retirement that the house we wanted is no longer within our financial reach because of the limited time available for a mortgage.

I approached the estate agent and suggested that we take our house off the market and they immediately said we would have to pay a £750 withdrawal fee. I re-read the contract because I was sure I it did not say £750. It did not, but what it did say was “if we deem it appropriate we will charge a fee”. I would welcome thoughts as to whether £750 is reasonable. I did sign the contract and at the time I queried what would be appropriate but was told it would not apply. Of course, that last sentence is irrelevant as it was not in writing and is just our word against the surveyor’s. However, even if by signing the agreement I agreed to a fee, I did not agree £750 so where do I stand on this front? Any comments would be very welcome.

nic_santorini

Am I reading this right - your house has been on the market since 2007 - I would suggest you don't pay them a penny. You usually pay a withdrawal fee when you withdraw the sale within 16 weeks of it going on the market, this is ridiculous, they have obviously done a rubbish job if they have not sold your house in all that time. I would tell them to sling their hook. Was there any fees included in the £750 like a hip report (now not needed, but was at that time), or other stuff? I think they are trying to pull a fast one, I would go to court on that one if they want to get the money - rip off estate agents. This is just my opinion, I am sure there are some legal eagles around here that can comment on the legalities.

Czechcow

Yes, a HIP was required at the time but they only cost around £80 and I am guessing a bit cheaper if instructed by an agent as large as the one I employed, if any cost at all as the agent is likely to have an in house company- (this is what we found with another agent when my son bought a house, this agent's wife did the hips!) I agree though, I should refuse to pay but I feel I need some advice, as by signing the contract I (stupidly) agreed a withdrawal fee (doh!) but I did not give them carte blanche on the figure and the more I know before I tackle them the more I am likely to stand in good stead!

clockworks_2

since 2007? I think 4 years is a very reasonable time to give an agent of selling. Seeing as they haven't they can't expect you to carry on waiting. Pull out and tell them to do one

muskoka

Or, alternatively leave it on the market with them insisting you want to increase the asking price considerably, hence you wont get any viewings anyway and the EA ends up with a load more grief and you dont pay any withdrawal fee. :j

DVardysShadow

Make an offer in writing

Dear <agent>

Our house has been on the market with you for 3 years and 6 months and has not been sold. We withdrew the house from the market as the best offer you have achieved in the period was almost 20% less than the asking price recommended by yourselves.

You are now asking for a termination fee of £750. We consider that you have had ample opportunity to market the property and consider that the failure to achieve a sale arises from poor professional advice from yourselves initially. Accordingly, we do not consider that your services have justified a fee of £750 - nor is such a fee agreed in our contract.

In order to settle this matter, we would however offer you £50 without prejudice in full and final settlement, subject to your acceptance in the next 14 days.

Yours sincerely

Czechcow

If you go with this, do make sure to include the words in red.

lisyloo

Tell them tell them to "sue me".
They will have no chance of getting this.
Why offer them £50?

DVardysShadow

lisyloo wrote: »

... Why offer them £50?

To make them go away. If they accept, then that is the end of it. If they refuse, you have evidence of having attempted to negotiate a settlement and they have to deal with your offer as another hurdle before taking it to court. As I see it, they are not on for £750, but they are on for something. So OP would be in a better position for offering £50 than for refusing them altogether.

Mrs_Arcanum

Most agents used get around 12 weeks before you could swap to another one without having joint agency fees. So what on earth are they playing at?

PasturesNew

Tell the agent to increase the price by £100k and leave it on the market then. You shouldn't be bothered by viewers and will avoid the fee. Increase the price by £50k each year until the EA begs you to remove it without a fee.

Financial_Savvy

Seriously you can't market a property for 3 years. I think you will find you have to renew the marketing every 6 months to comply to the Property Misdescriptions Act??

You could have made any number of changes to the property in the last 3 years.

This go in the most scandalous Estate Agent experience thread here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3202404